Key gas drilling vote in Delaware River Basin postponed

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — With two of five members opposed, a multistate agency that has spent years developing regulations for natural gas drilling in the Delaware River Basin has delayed a key vote scheduled for Monday.

The Delaware River Basin Commission announced Friday it was postponing a vote on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to give the agency's five commissioners more time to review the draft regulations. No new meeting date has been set.

Delaware Gov. Jack Markell told the commission Thursday that he would not support the regulations because of concerns over drinking water protections.

The rules need three votes to pass, though the commission had been hoping for unanimous support. Earlier, New York had announced it would vote no.

New Jersey and Pennsylvania had not announced how they would vote, but it was believed both would vote yes.

It's not known how the fifth member, the federal Army Corps of Engineers, was planning to vote.